Halo Wars 2: Better Than the First?

So far, yes, yes it is better than the first. After playing the basic but informative tutorial, I was launched into the campaign, sort of. The first mission or two of the campaign is basically a more detailed version of the tutorial. In fact, the majority of the campaign feels like a step by step tutorial for the game. With the introduction of the new game comes the introduction of a new game type, blitz. If you’ve ever played CLash Royal, or Star Wars: Galaxy of Heroes, or Hearthstone, you know how this game mode works. It is an RTS (Real time strategy) mode where players go into it with a deck of cards to choose from. The game mode plays very well and is a welcome addition to the new game. However, the campaign barely prepares you for this despite it being one of the main focuses of the game.

Despite that, I thought the campaign was very well put together and I personally enjoyed the storyline and thought it was well developed. Yet, the game does not come without its problems. Right out of the game I had trouble successfully even launching the game. I had to restart several times because of crashes. 343 Industries has acknowledged this problem and claims to be working towards a fix. Once I got the game working, I really enjoyed it. The cutscenes are very well put together and they make the story feel real and meaningful. It doesn’t feel like a backdrop to the game but instead it is more like the game is focused around the campaign. Once cutscenes are finished, the game sort of goes into a hybrid between a cutscene and actual gameplay. I absolutely can not stand when it does this. The graphics in the “cutscene” are horrific and are much worse than actual gameplay graphics or cutscene renderings. I believe keeping this transitional phase as a cutscene rendering would’ve looked much better and allowed for more immersion into the game.

Overall, I feel like 343 Industries fixed a lot of problems/lack of content that the original Halo Wars came with. The introduction of the Blitz game mode gives the game a high amount of replay ability, allowing people to get their $60 worth from the game. In the end, if my account became compromised and I had to buy the game again, would I? Yes, yes I would. I personally believe the game is worth $60. However, I’m not sure that goes for everyone and I think the game would be much more appealing to other people around the $45 price tag.